Step 6: Modify your ZVS driver for higher performance!

Step 7: Going further

The fun does not stop there, if you are hungry for more bigger, hotter, and beastly arcs, a few changes to your ZVS driver should be made to handle hi...

Tired of little purple sparks? Want bigger hotter sparks? Then try:

The ZVS Flyback Driver

It is probably the most powerful and efficient flyback transformer driver that was fairly recently invented by Vladmiro Mazilli. It uses resonant zero voltage switching (also know as ZVS) to drive the flyback transformer. This means the MOSFET's are designed to switch (on or off) when the voltage across them becomes zero.

Because the MOSFET's switches when there is no voltage across them, it will generate very little heat, the only source of heat is caused by the MOSFET's internal resistance. Unlike the simple 555 timer flyback drivers, The ZVS flyback drivers will allow you to run your flyback transformers for much longer periods of time before the MOSFET's overheat. If you get really good MOSFET's, it might be even possible to run your ZVS flyback driver infinitely! (Or until the circuit is interrupted)

Step 1: The dangers of the ZVS flyback drivers

Not only the ZVS flyback driver is powerful, but it is very dangerous. You can easily pump several hundreds of watts into the flyback transformer and the output current would be around 50mA to 200mA (or even more), which is way above the lethal rate which is 10mA.

Do NOT attempt to do this as your first flyback transformer driver project, I recommend you to start with using simple 555 timer flyback drivers before thinking about building an ZVS driver.

And finally, you are solely responsible for any harm to others or damage or any other problems that a ZVS driver may cause. The ZVS driver should be used for educational and research purpose only.

Dude,i''ll give you a hint, if you just want to power up your flyback you can modify a power supply, just fking remove the original transformer, find the primary winding using a multimeter, and weld the old pcb to your transformer. Weld a simple diode (IN4007 or other) in parallel with the output of the optocoupler to assure that the driver will work in maximum charge, and voilá.

It took me 20 minutes to weld the whole thing and make the new turns on the primary of the flyback. **i used 100 turns.

Hi everybody! Someone can clear me a doubt? It works if I put a HV diode to rectify? Do you think it's possible with this circuit, to supply high voltage to magnetron oven? What do you think?The current is strong enough to break down the barrier of diode?Thanks.

Great driver and 'ible! barely gets warm at 12v coming out of a PC PSU and really nice arcs, modifying a Microwave Transformer soon for 24v for longer arcs. Fiddling with the capacitor value helps a lot to get the best out of your flyback. I ended up with an arrangement of 6 caps (1µf 275v), 3 pairs in parallel then those 3 pairs in series to achieve 0.66µf capacitance that has a rating of 825v which meant less capacitor heat and easier to modify the frequency with different arrangements, this the is the calculator i used for the capacitor arrangements http://kaizerpowerelectronics.dk/calculators/mmc-calculator/

Thinking of building this and i wanted to use a computer PSU but i wanted to ask: if i just connect it won't it try to draw the map amps the PSU can give and and possible damage the PSU or will it be fine? would i have to limit it in some way?

Some common safety rules/procedures I have read are: Keep one hand in your pocket whenever the device is powered on. Always wear safety glasses. Place the device as far from the edge of your bench as you can and still handle it (In case it slips off the edge when powered up.) Keep an extinguisher rated for electrical fires nearby. Do NOT place the circuit anywhere near metal flashing or framing, etc. Put it on a dry insulating surface. Put yourself on similar material (Eg. rubber mat, plywood sheet.)

When possible use opto-isolators to connect low-voltage signal lines to the rest of circuitry, esp. when you are touching the low voltage controls. Separate the high and low voltage circuit components with a grounded metal cage or barrier of some sort. Obviously, the cage has to be large enough so that it's walls are not going to short out to the HV inside it. For HV outputs use wire rated for twice the voltage you are delivering with it. (All capacitors should be rated similarly; they can explode dramatically.) Take into consideration the current rating for the gauge wire you are using; you don't want the wire to melt or catch fire. Don't use cheap auto ignition wire for this purpose. Use genuine HV wire that has thick insulation. Silicone insulation should be more flexible than PVC. If you must handle the HV wires, use with rods of wood, rubber, plastic etc. Don't trust ordinary screwdrivers and pliers, no matter how much rubber coating is used on the handles. Use common sense. With these requirements in mind check everything twice before powering up.

I don't mean to be jumping your case, but I must advise all people who try this schematic. Any of you recall the color code provided for a 10k ohm resistor? It is listed as orange/brown/black. This is not a 10k ohm color code, as I checked it on a calculator, and looked at the color/digit significance. This color code would actually be for a 31 ohm resistor. DO NOT USE this resistor if you are seeking a 10k ohm.

The actual color code for 10k ohms is of the same colors, but it is actually supposed to be in the order of BROWN/BLACK/ORANGE!

Thankfully, I recognized this prior to taking out the resistors needed from a TV motherboard. Do not worry about the 470 ohm color code provided, as the publisher has it listed correctly.

I recall how you were wanting to know why the negative terminal gets hotter than the positive when arcing. I don't know if anyone has answered this for you yet, but I will provide my input according to my comprehension of current direction.

First, you must understand that all the electrons come from the negative terminal of the circuit, and the high voltage positive terminal acts much like an electron vacuum. This is because all positive wires lack electrons, and when they come in contact with a negative, or ground wire, the electrons are sucked out from its resource.

Negative/Ground wires can't shock you, as the electrons can't flow into any conductor unless it lacks electrons - like a live wire.

Due to the negative/ground terminal possessing so many electrons, and the live terminal having virtually none, the terminal with the most electrons will get the hottest, as there is more electron friction in it. The live terminal doesn't get very hot, because any electrons to make their way into it are quickly "sucked" away, thus the live terminal still lacks electrons, and this lack in electrons results in very little friction.

Seemingly, everybody thinks the current flows from the live wire, when it is actually in reverse. It somewhat bothers me why schematics aren't designed in reverse as well. Due to this, I once drew a Tesla coil schematic in reverse.

What is the amp hour rating on the batteries you use to power this? Also do the batteries have to match (that is, same manufacturer and same ratings)? I'm asking because I've already burnt out a 5 amp hour battery with a few high-current experiments and I don't want to burn out any more!

Its a resonant tank you are making with the coil inductance and capacitor. You are searching for the resonant frequency so just driving it faster doesn't mean it wil be more efficient. You need to balance the two out and drive it a frequency where the coil becomes resonant. Efficiency means the power will get through.

I think the reason why the negative terminal gets so hot, is that positive charged ions (Nitrogene+ and Oxygen+) are accelerated to it. The positive terminal gets bombed with electrons, but because they are less heavier, they don't generate much heat. Nitrogene and Oxygen are much heavier, so the "friction" (cross section) between the metal is even greater.

The same driver can be used to heat any metal you put in the red wire loop (replacing the ferrite core flyback transformer). The cap value and number of turns (less) will need tuning to get the metal to heat up . The metal acts as a poor transformer core and resists the change in energy flow thereby disspating the wasted energy as heat. Generally a bad idea unless you want to heat metal up in an induction furnace.

IRFP250 = 250V, 23Amps, RDS=140mOhm, Gatecharge(GC)=140nC IRFP254 = 200V, 30Amps, RDS=85mOhm, GC=140nC IRF540=100V, 33 Amps, RDS=44mOhm, GC=71nC The 540 has a much lower voltage and might have had a problem switching, but its also likely the the Gatecharge (which is much lower) means you need a different tuned network. Try diff cap values.